"New York State of Mind" by Billy Joel (VIDEO)
Watch a live performance of "New York State of Mind" by Billy Joel, No. 19 on our list of the 100 best NYC songs.
Wed Mar 7 2012
19. Billy Joel, "New York State of Mind" (1976)
"Some folks like to get away, take a holiday from the neighborhood"—but not Billy Joel, whose soulful neostandard extols the comforts of being home in New York, even in a somewhat melancholic mood. "It comes down to reality, and it's fine with me 'cause I've let it slide," he sings; the song's jazzy piano and saxophone lines are not carefree so much as stubbornly inured to care.
